im a student, looking to make a bit of spare cash

so, i have a shared account at downtownhost, and was wondering about getting a reseller account.

say if i spent about $30 a month, and got about 60GB bandwidth, how should i go about it

should i advertise some small web space accounts in the web host offers forum, and perhaps sell 5Gb bandwidth accounts for $7 or so?

im new to this, so i need lots of advice......

do i tell people im just a lousy reseller, or do i pretend to have my own server?


Mike

You'll find it hard to compete with the biggest hosts. Your best bet is to appeal to the local area or another niche market opposed to trying to compete on the offers forum on WHT.

As for honesty if the reseller account you have is pretty anonymous and you have private nameservers and such it's generally smart to say you own the server. But it doesn't mean you have to by any means but most do say it's their server.

You could pretend to own your own server actually, it would take a bit of time to get customers, but if you can offer good services the word will spread and you will get alot of customers.

but now aday host are providing huge bandwidth at very cheap rate so hard to get a market share with 5gb bandwidth at $7

Very true, these days people offering very cheap price with huge bandwidth, but yah still if you have some friends or related ppl who needs hosting, and you can sell it to them, but yah unless it will be hard for you to make profit.

Hosting takes a lot of time and knowledge. It's not something you can just "set it and forget it". You have to take care of your customers and provide quality service. If you're not up to the challenge I wouldn't recommend getting into it.

im a student, looking to make a bit of spare cash

so, i have a shared account at downtownhost, and was wondering about getting a reseller account.

say if i spent about $30 a month, and got about 60GB bandwidth, how should i go about it

should i advertise some small web space accounts in the web host offers forum, and perhaps sell 5Gb bandwidth accounts for $7 or so?

im new to this, so i need lots of advice......

do i tell people im just a lousy reseller, or do i pretend to have my own server?


Mike

Mike,

While you don't need to tell them upfront that you're a reseller -- that doesn't mean you should go off the deep end and say you own your own hardware, datacenter, etc.

Be as honest as possible without scaring them away. Telling them that they're hosted on quality machines (list the specs.) should be sufficient enough.

Don't build a company or service on lies. It'll only result in pain.

Don't tell your clients that you are a reseller - it may be a turnoff to many of them as they want a "large, reliable" host, not a "smaller, newer host"

Just find a nice reseller package that suits your needs and get it. Very few clients will actually come out and ask you if you are a reseller, I think they will just assume that you are what they need and thats that.

You don't have to advertise that you're a reseller, however, if they ask you, tell them them the true, they may find it one day, and you'll lose a lot of credibility if you tell them a lie before. Hardly they are going to trust in you again.

There is so much competition within the web hosting industry so you need to offer something that no-one else does - but make sure it is useful to your customer. This will help alongside finding your advertising niche.

Good luck.

Regards

Mike,

Be as honest as possible without scaring them away. Telling them that they're hosted on quality machines (list the specs.) should be sufficient enough.

Don't build a company or service on lies. It'll only result in pain.
I'd like to add to that statements from David, Mike.

You can always say that your clients are hosted on quality machines located in a top quality datacenter. You can also ask your dc for a few pictures and info to post on your site. If your company appears, and are, stable to your clients' views, and you focus on providing quality service and support, you should do well.

Since you're a college student, I am not sure if you can find enough time to take care of your business. More power to you if you can do both. Good luck.

Being a webhost is not a part-time job.

im a student, looking to make a bit of spare cash

so, i have a shared account at downtownhost, and was wondering about getting a reseller account.

say if i spent about $30 a month, and got about 60GB bandwidth, how should i go about it

should i advertise some small web space accounts in the web host offers forum, and perhaps sell 5Gb bandwidth accounts for $7 or so?

im new to this, so i need lots of advice......

do i tell people im just a lousy reseller, or do i pretend to have my own server?


Mike

being a webhost is not a partime job..but you can make a part time income selling webhosting

DON"T LIE...be upfront...just say you sell webhosting

You are a student...sell to your friends...you have a few hundred (thousand?) prospects right at your school

you can get reseller plans for less than 30 bucks

you CAN make a good profit...just keep at it

be honest, offer something unique...maybe some simple web design with joomla/mambo

just think it through first...then go for it!

try finding a host, that can help you with ideas/suggestions etc

You can make good money from a lot of things that you put time or dedication into. Just because web hosting is an easy industry to enter, it doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be easy to profit from...

You should think about this carefully, research thoroughly and make sure you are making an informed decision... Just understand that if you are looking to make some quick cash part time, you will be better off getting a job nearby doing something else.

well said InnoHosting! That was a great advice.

Before making any attempt, make sure you have a solid plan - this business needs good planning and organising from the beginning.

You can definately make good money, but be prepared... have a good business plan and organise everything.

Have you looked into www.unitedhosting.co.uk (http://www.unitedhosting.co.uk) , httpme.com also do some good packages, for the extra few $

thanks for all the feedback guys. I know its a big thing to get into,i wasnt going to try and compete with the big guys out there. I already have a part time job!

I was hinting at what some of you said - finding some friends to host, and hosting some people from the community i own.

Mike

you can do a BANG UP job in your local area.

and people whoyou get offline will pay you TOP DOLLAR for being local :)

Local customers will always pay more, because they know you personally and/or have met you in person. It is more of a thing where they are more comfortable with you.

Going about getting a database of online customers is a little tougher, especially competing with the giants out there (It is near impossible with how much they put into advertising, but if you find the niche you will succeed.)

So good luck, and there are many reliable options out there for some awesome reseller packages.

If you need to talk to someone who has a lot of experience with hosting, resellers hosting and so on, feel free to hit me up on MSN. I always have time to help out someone who needs some advice.

Local client will pay you extra money because they know that they can reach you any time .. they can have a meeting with you ...

What i think is the resellers only stay in business due to priority services, as you don't have to manage thousands of domains, and you are getting good amount for each domain . so it won't be hard to manage the clients.

Plus you have to give them some extra services .. i.e if you are a designer then design a quality static website for them with some extra but very cheap cost (you can use templates too from boxedart.com very minimum yearly membership fees).

Again don't sell cheap .. becz you are providing a local services and your reputation is on the line.

If you have a *proper* business model, etc. (i.e. sensible packages, etc., etc.), you can easily make several thousand $ per month in recurring revenue.

If you need to talk to someone who has a lot of experience with hosting, resellers hosting and so on, feel free to hit me up on MSN. I always have time to help out someone who needs some advice.

Why not exchange information here? That way others can learn as well :eek:

Why not exchange information here? That way others can learn as well :eek:


Yeah you have to share this information with us

With lots of time and dedication reseller hosting can give you a tidy profit, however you need money to start off with.

Well, although I am not a host I will tell you my opinion:

1) At first, I think that noone will ask SO MANY details about your hosting equipment, network, etc....

I think that you don't need to tell lie, just try to be as professional as possible, and just say some good words about your network provider, etc...

You don't need to tell lie, because even if you have a reseller account , you can say to your customers that you have your own servers at a specific provider....This is not lie, because even if on a reseller account, you still can quote the specifications of your provider, just don't need to say you have just a reseller account.

Even some very well known hosting providers tell to the customers that they own all their equipment, although the case is that they are leasing it from big providers, you see? This is not quite a lie.....

2) Furthermore, my opinion is that since you cannot compete the large hosts in terms of space, bandwidth, and support, you should focus on some other type of hosting. For example, instead of selling $7 accounts (where you cannot be any competitive at all), try to create some cheaper plans or try to sell to some special group of customers like students etcc..... or try to sell accounts that have support for some special technology such as Ruby on Rails, etc.....

I hope this helped you out a bit ... ;)

There is money to be made in the market. Just make sure that you are able to balance your life as a student with your life taking care of your customers. If you do well, word will spread and you will have more work on your hands.

Here's my $0.02,

Yes there is profit in reseller hosting...but not as fast as you think the return would be.

Selling to close friends and relatives was what i did as a start-up. Initially, if your clients feel that your server is reliable and your suport is great ( They have your number and can call you up just anytime for support) then good word will spread. Soon you will find potential clients calling and emailing you up in regards of subscribing to your service.

Maybe I am a bit slow, it took me 1 year to be known by the community and having most of them switching to my server initailly as my server's uptime & performance is great and I am ok with them calling me in the middle of the night. My service is somehow better than those in my area and people are willing to pay more for better service.

Hosting is not like a fast cash scheme, its a long term investment and you will need plans to actually make sure that you are always on track. Patience is important too and make sure you take care of the way you speak and act in front of your friends because they are most lightly to be your potential clients.

Being a student and already having a part-time job, as you mentioned, things may not seems to be easy not only at the beginning but also all along your hosting business.

If you think that you will be venturing into the hosting industry serving your potential clients for a long term then you can venture into it, else if you think that you are going to do this only for a short while, you can forget about it. You should be better off enjoying your student/college life.

I dont think I am old enough to give you advice, but above are my experience few years back when I first started my hosting business. My apology should the above statements hurt you or de-motivate you.

Should you are TOUGH enough to join the hosting industry, welcome! :)

What i think is .. money will come with the profit when clients get renewals .. first 1- 1.6 years you are just establishing your name in the market ...

If you want this to be short term thing .. then really forget it ... becz it will make a bad mark in your image too .. that no one will consider you are reilable person with your commitments.